creating better environments

RAAF Base Richmond - Liquid Oxygen Facility

Located at the end of a runway the liquid oxygen facility atRichmond RAAF Base west of Sydney is not your everydaybuilding. A building with a unique form compared with otherbuildings scattered around the military base.

Liquid oxygen or LOX. The Liquid Dry Breathing OxygenMaintenance and Storage Facility, to give it its full name,performs a specific task for the Royal Australian Air Force, ittests, maintains and services the oxygen (and nitrogen) used onmilitary planes."The new facility had to accommodate LOX liquid," architectGuy Luscombe of Campbell Luscombe Folk LichtmamArchitects said. "It has two main functions, storage andmaintenance.""For safety reasons each function is housed in a separatebuilding. The storage building, essentially a rain and sunprotection shelter, services the planes directly and abuts themain runway. "The maintenance building, the 'commandmodule', is the more sophisticated structure and sits about 100metres away. It has three main testing laboratories / workshopswith smaller rooms for specific testing functions."The basic design and shape is of a plane's wing. The building'ssingle, streamlined form was primarily influenced by its locationat the end of the main runway and designed to resist noise andwind pressure. Colorex tiles with its leading conductiveproperties was selected for the facility and laboratories tocomply with strict safety and performance criteria along withdurability and ability to handle heavy loads.

Architect Campbell Luscombe Folk LichtmamArchitects

Location Western Sydney Australia

Date ofcompletion

2008

Used Products

Colorex ECmontblanc

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